In 1970, the Datapoint 2000 was released. Not really a “computer” the Datapoint 2200 was sold as a programmable terminal that could emulate other terminals. It’s original design called for a single chip processor however as this processor would be 2 more years in the making, it was released utilizing discrete components to carry out the Intel 8008 processor instruction set making it the first personal computer.
By 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak had produced the first “home computer” under the name Apple. It was little more than a single board computer with a recommendation on a keyboard to go with it however, the following year, the Apple II was launched making it the first affordable home computer that was ready to use out of the box.
As other companies quickly raced to do much the same, later that year Commodore released the PET followed by Radio Shack’s TRS-80 Model I. The race for dominance in the home computer market was on with the only standard being that there was no standards and consumers often found that even similar machines from the manufacture often were not compatible with each other which further opened opportunities for the competition year after year.
